Saturday, April 4, 2009

Welcome to The Weekly Trunk -- The Republican National Committee’s new weekly email update on all the latest news and political happenings. The goal of The Weekly Trunk is to inform and arm you with the facts you need to spread our conservative message and refute the misstatements of the Democrats.This week's issue features...

Obama Strains Economy, Foreign RelationsAccording to one European leader, the Obama Administration is following the same playbook that FDR used during the Great Depression -- and only made things worse.(Tony Barber & Edward Luce, “EU Leader Condemns US ‘Road to Hell’,” Financial Times, 3/25/09) Pelosi Plan to Sabotage Private Health PoliciesThe liberal Speaker of the House is pushing for government-run health programs which will undercut private insurers in another step towards a single payer healthcare system. (Laura Litvan, “House Health Plan to Include Government-Run Option,” Bloomberg.com, 3/26/09)He Gives Us No ChoicePresident Obama speaks as if vibrant free markets unhindered by the bloated, plodding government he is creating are an actual option, but one he has no intention of pursuing.(Mark Steyn, “Obama’s False Choice,” NationalReviewOnline, 3/28/09)

Senator Chris “AIG” DoddMore has come to light on the political contributions Democrat Sen. Chris Dodd received from AIG executives -- whose bonuses he ensured even after the company received $170 billion of taxpayers’ money. (Jennifer Haberkorn and Jerry Seper, “AIG Chiefs Pressed To Donate To Dodd,” The Washington Times, 3/30/09)Seizing Private Businesses “Not Radical?”Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner again proposes sweeping expansion of government power over private enterprise, without, again, offering any details… (Frank Ahrens, “Rep. Manzullo to Geithner: Your Plan Is 'Radical',” The Washington Post, 3/26/09)Liberal Special Interest Groups Flexing MusclesMoveOn.org and other leftist special interest groups are stepping up their attacks in support of passing radical Obama agenda. (Patrick O'Connor & Manu Raju, “Democrats vs. Democrats,” Politico, 3/26/09) Obama Dishonest on Massive Debt As a candidate, Barack Obama said he wouldn’t “pass on our problems to the next generation.” But that’s precisely what he’s doing. (Editorial, “Candor, Please: Obama Not Forthright on Vast Debt He Seeks,” The San Diego Union-Tribune, 3/26/09)

“Sea of Red Ink”Yet another national newspaper adds its voice to the growing condemnation of Barack Obama’s unsustainable statist spending and borrowing agenda. (Editorial, “Huge Deficits Put Nation on Unsustainable Course,” USA Today, 3/26/09)Pravda on the Potomac?Democrats’ plan to aid struggling mainstream media outlets, already sympathetic to their liberal agenda, invites partisan erosion of the First Amendment. (Joseph Abrams, “Critics Say Senate Bill to Rescue Newspapers May Invite Government Control of News,” Foxnews.com, 3/26/09)Democrats’ Pork Barrel Gravy Train Leads to More Corruption and FraudIf we left money in the hands of the people who earned it with tax cuts, instead of confiscating it and doling it out based on politicians’ whims, we’d avoid the corruption that ensues. (Editorial, “Stimulus Spending Remains Ripe for Fraud,” The Washington Times, 3/26/09)Obama’s Chief of Staff’s Freddie Mac PaydayRahm Emanuel made $320,000 for very little effort at Freddie Mac during the Democrats’ mortgage-manipulation boom. Unfortunately, the unsustainable policies championed by Democrats led to a big bust for the rest of us. (Bob Secter and Andrew Zajac, “Rahm Emanuel's Profitable Stint at Mortgage Giant,” Chicago Tribune, 3/26/09)Obama Job Growth Numbers Don’t Add UpThe President promises he’ll save or create 3.5 million jobs in the next two years, but many economists are skeptical that “stimulus” spending will actually help. (Calvin Woodward, “Bold Claims of Stimulus Jobs Can't Be Measured,” Associated Press, 3/26/09) Watch Republican Senator Judd Gregg’s response to President Obama’s weekly YouTube address here: http://www.youtube.com/user/RepublicanSenators